Due to the language and cultural barrier between East and West, it can
often be difficult to find reliable and accurate information about the Tao.
Misconceptions abound, even from sources that one would normally consider
definitive and authoritative. One such misconception, perhaps the most
important of all, has to do with the origin of the Tao.

Many people interested in the Tao are still under the impression that Lao
Tzu founded Taoism about 2,500 years ago. There is some truth to this, as long
as we
are only talking about philosophical Taoism (Dao Jia) or religious
Taoism (Dao Jiao). However, the one thing that most people do not
realize is that both variants of Taoism came from a much older tradition, known to the Chinese simply as the Tao. It is not possible for Lao Tzu to be the founder of this ancient tradition for the simple reason that
it began at least 2,300 years before his time.

Discerning individuals may glimpse this truth when they come across
references to Huangdi, one of the legendary emperors of ancient China.
Encyclopedia Britannica identifies him as "a patron saint of Taoism," while
Columbia Encyclopedia says: "Along with the semi-mythical Lao Tzu, he was
associated in the traditional Chinese folk culture with the founding of
Taoism."

This is interesting, because Huangdi lived about 4,700 years ago, 2,200
years before Lao Tzu. He could only be a patron saint of Taoism if Taoism
already existed at that time. And if he was associated with the founding of
it, then Lao Tzu could not logically play the same role. One cannot
originate something that has already been around for generations. Thus, most
reference works in the West that cite Lao Tzu as the source of Taoism are
not completely accurate. We can give Lao Tzu credit for religious Taoism and
philosophical Taoism, but not the original Taoism that gave rise to both.

We can see another clue in I Ching (Yi Jing), the Book of Changes.
We commonly associate this book with Taoism, but it, too, predates Lao Tzu
by more than two thousand years. To Lao Tzu and the Chinese people who lived
during his time, the I Ching would be seen in a similar light as the Bible
is regarded by Christians today - as an ancient tome of spiritual wisdom.
Thus, calling Lao Tzu the founder of Taoism would be like
calling a contemporary Christian the founder of Christianity.

It is important to note that Lao Tzu never claimed to be the founder of
anything. This is clear in the Tao Te Ching itself, where Lao Tzu speaks of
past practitioners. Chapter 15, for instance, is a description of
"Tao masters of antiquity" or "those who mastered the Tao in ancient times."
The chapter demonstrates Lao Tzu's awareness of the already existing Tao, and
his wish to emulate the examples set by revered masters - people who were
ancient to him and already historical figures by the time he wrote the Tao
Te Ching.

Essentially, the Tao Te Ching was written as a collection of teachings from the
original form of Taoism. Lao Tzu presented these teachings in an organized
and accessible format. His work revitalized and energized Tao cultivation,
so its importance cannot be overlooked. At the same time, it's also important for us to
recognize that Lao Tzu was not the one who "invented" concepts like
wu wei,
p'u, and ziran. Nor was he the first to talk about the
significance of silence, harmony, intuition and emptiness.

Who, then, is the true founder of the Tao, if not Lao Tzu? Is it Huangdi? No, as it turns
out, there was another figure who came before Huangdi by about a century: Fu
Hsi (pronounced foo shee). He is not, and perhaps never will be, identified in Western reference
works as the originator of the Tao. However, when we go deeper into research, we can see that the I Ching and the trigrams (Ba Gua, the
basis of the 64 hexagrams in I Ching) are attributed to him.

Fu Hsi was the first of the legendary emperors of ancient China.
His reign marked the starting point of Chinese civilization, and the Tao concept that originated at the same time also reflected the spirit
of Chinese culture from this ancient beginning. We can see the evidence for
this when we get closer to Chinese culture. In this painting to the right,
Fu Hsi is shown wearing furs. Below him on the floor we see the Ba Gua
trigrams as well as a turtle. Legend has it that Fu Hsi divined the
underlying pattern of the cosmos from the strange markings on the back of a
turtle.

In the photo below from the Bao Guang Yu Shan Temple in Tainan, we see a
statue of Fu Hsi, holding Ba Gua and surrounded by trigrams. He is wearing
primitive garb made of leaves. This is consistent with the painting showing
him wearing furs, because back in his days cloth hadn't been invented yet.
It would be roughly another century before Huangdi's wife comes up with
silk.

At another temple, the Bao Guang
Shen Wei, we see an even clearer depiction of Fu Hsi as the starting
point of the Tao. In the photo below, we see Fu Hsi to the right,
wearing the same primitive attire, and holding up the same Ba Gua symbol. Above him, the inscription says "First
Generation: Fu Hsi, Divine Emperor."

The Tao concept that began with Fu Hsi was all-inclusive. It applied to all aspects of life and was
never limited to either religious or philosophical variations. Every
religion or philosophy was simply a particular expression of the Tao. When
we understand this unifying Tao the way that its earliest practitioners did,
we would see that our many distinctions, divisions and categorizations
really take us away from the original concept.

The "Vinegar Tasters" story is an example of this. In that story,
Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism are compared against one another. Since
the story is told from a Taoist point of view, it is of course Taoism that
emerges in the most favorable light. This would be odd to the ancient sages
four thousand years ago, because they would see the three not
as separate objects to compete for supremacy, but merely different angles on the Tao.

Something is definitely lost in translation when we study the Tao in the
West. Somehow, the all-encompassing Tao devolves into merely one camp among
many. We know about Lao Tzu but not about Fu Hsi. We read the teachings of
the Tao Te Ching while remaining unaware of the rich tradition that created
and shaped them.

This is one of the biggest reasons why this web site exists. It isn't just about religious or
philosophical Taoism, as many visitors may assume. It is about both and much
more. As its name implies, the site focuses on the True Tao - not as something
over which we claim proprietary ownership, but as a declaration of our
aspiration and direction.

In our quest for the True Tao, we will do our level best to clear up
misconceptions wherever we find them. We will offer accurate and reliable
information that may be difficult or impossible to find from other sources.
We will endeavor to offer, directly from the most
authentic tradition available anywhere, the real, original Tao.